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Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Ealing Studios is the oldest continuously working film studio in the world, and was built for the use of sound in early British films.

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History

The site had been previously occupied by Will Barker Studios from 1896, but was acquired by theatre producer Basil Dean's newly-formed production company in 1929, and reopened as Ealing Studios in 1931. In 1933, the company was renamed Associated Talking Pictures. When Dean left in 1938, to be replaced by Michael Balcon from MGM, about 60 films had been made at the studios. Balcon discontinued the ATP name and began to issue films under the Ealing Studios name. In 1944, the company was taken over by the Rank Organisation.

The BBC bought the studios in 1955, though productions bearing the Ealing name continued to be made at the MGM studio at Elstree for around two years. The BBC used the facilities at Ealing for filmed inserts where the electronic studio could not be used, such as for the excavation site in Quatermass and the Pit (1958-59), The White Rabbit (TV miniseries, 1967), Colditz(1972-74) and the communal sequences in Porridge (1974-77). Programmes wholly shot on film were made there also, such as The Singing Detective (1986) and Fortunes of War (1987).

In 1995, the studios were purchased by the National Film and Television School (NFTS) and yet again in mid-2000 by a consortium led by Fragile Films' Uri Fruchtmann and Barnaby Thompson, Harry Handelsman and John Kao, with a view to reviving the fortunes of the studio. The studio has since begun to produce theatrical films again, such as Lucky Break (2001), The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), and Valiant (2005). Shaun Of The Dead and the highly rated 2005 horror film The Descent were both shot on the lot. In 2007, Ealing revived the St Trinian's franchise and the first film took over £12 million at the UK Box Office, making it the 4th most successful British independent movie of all time. St. Trinian's, The Legend of Fritton's Gold was released in December 2009 and took over £7 miillion at the UK Box Office. Between these, Ealing released Easy Virtue (2008), directed by Stephan Elliot and Dorian Gray (2009), directed by Oliver Parker.